Life is interconnected and so are the topics on this blog. It might be cooking and gardening one day, yoga the next, knitting and sewing, or hiking and then bird watching followed by recycling or composting. They are the parts that bring humble joy to my life of voluntary simplicity in Montana.

Thursday, March 31, 2011

Board Games Rock My World...and Are On My Mind.

Today I was thinking about how awesome board games are. It isn't anything deep, but something I hold dear none the less.

Board games are underrated and underutilized in my opinion. It seems that so many (at least of my peers and younger) are just not interested in gaming, unless I am taking about video games that is. Not me, I am a board game junkie. I'd probably play one every single day if I had willing participants. (Matt and I DO probably play a game, oh, every other day or so as it is.) I used to play video games, and certainly they can be fun, but for me it is board games all the way. I think they are the bee's knees because it is such a fun, inexpensive, and stimulating group activity. (And hey, no electricity required!)

We are currently on a Yahtzee rampage. We go in spurts as to what we play. This month is is Yahtzee and before that it was Chess and before that it was Boggle and before that Scrabble. And so on.

I probably have too many games. The closet keeps getting fuller and fuller. Each time we are at the thrift store I have to peruse the games thoroughly. However, unlike with my bookshelf, I have never embraced a one-in-one-out policy for board games. It is such cheap and easy entertainment though so I don't feel to bad about it....until I can't get the closet to close again....then I select a few to return back to the thrift store until some new owners come along.

Yes, I have THREE shelves of games.

I have found many a treasure of secondhand games. In fact, I believe we have only bought one new game ever, though I have received several new games as gifts from those who know me well. So, most are the old, classically awesome versions, rather than the new and (not) improved versions being sold today. I found copies of both Careers and Bargain Hunter, which I played countless, countless times with my sisters as a young girl, at the MRM. These are such odd ball 70's games that I figured I'd never see them again. Ah, bless the second hand shops. It makes me feel warm and fuzzy to play them now as they are tied to such sweet memories of my sisters and childhood.

Matt, and our dear friend Derek are my go-to gaming pals. For a while there (a couple years ago now) the three of us had Risk matches every single week. I should take this moment to brag that despite my peace-lovin' appearance I am the master of global domination in Risk form and was undefeated for some time. : ) We've been talking about getting a Risk match organized for the last couple of weekends, but it hasn't happened just yet. The three of us still play games pretty regularly, but have learned to vary the game played a bit more than we used to. We are now getting into card games as well. Derek taught us Nerd (strikingly similar to a game called Demon by my extended family) and I taught him Cribbage. We also have been playing a card game called Golf. I don't play real golf, but card golf is pretty darn fun. Matt and I were thinking that cards are the prefect backpacking game because they can be played in so many different ways.

A December 2007 Risk Match...the only one I could easily find photos of.

I also enjoy that board games are educational fun. Yahtzee (and Matt) has been helping me work on my math skills which are pretty darn pathetic. I really want to be better at math. It would be a helpful skill. It makes me feel dumb sometimes to trip up over what I know should be simple mental math. I am mental math challenged. But, I really think Yahtzee is helping and the last time we played The Farming Game I even volunteered to be banker, though Matt was certainly still the assistant banker. : )

What is your favorite board or card game? Maybe it isn't on my radar, but should be.

13 comments:

We just picked up National Geographic Global Pursuit at a thrift store for a dollar and found it to be quite fun. My family also plays pinochle almost unhealthily when we are all together. My sister also made up her own version of Clue that is kind of complicated but fun and challenging. My sister likes to change the rules to everything, which can have really fantastic results.

Well, I like National Geographic so I bet their game would be swell. I hope it has good photos. That was always the best part of NatGeo for me.

I've talked with Matt about how we should make up our own game, but it hasn't happened yet. I think it would be hard, but fun.

There was a time when I couldn't get Matt to play anything BUT Scrabble. It is still an all-time household favorite. (We even have a little Excel spreadsheet of our Scrabble scores so we have an on going championship...we are so nerdy.... I think Matt is the reigning champ.)

Scrabble is our ALL TIME family fave. I take a picture of the board at the end of every game because I'm compulsive like that. Also I keep all the score sheets complete with hilarious snarky comments scribbled in the margins and then I read them as the years pass. Strange but true. I love your shelves of games. Have you tried Triominos or Apples to Apples? Both very fun as well. Of course the strategy folks in our house love chess.

Ah, I am so pleased to learn I am not alone in my Scrabble geekiness! I WISH I had a photo of every game! That would be SO neat! I am going to try to start that tradition. I am hit or miss currently, usually documenting boards with high scores or unique words.

Triominos? I've never even heard of it! Oooh, a new game for me to be on the look out for! Thanks for the suggestion.

Apples to Apples is perhaps the greatest large-group game in my opinion.

I love board games! and can you believe, I married someone who doesn't. . . My extended family adores games, so I do get my game fix.

Scrabble is (I'm sorry) too slow for me to like. I like pick-one scrabble, or speed scrabble some people call it. But I love the idea of photographing the board at the end - I'm going to tell my mom and aunts, who play wicked cutthroat scrabble. My favorite word game is probably Scattergories or Taboo.

Scrabble Confession: Sometimes when we play in the evening and Matt takes too long between words I have been know to fall asleep. It is certainly not...shall we say... fast paced. This was much more prevalent when it was the only game I could get him to play. Now that I've gotten him to accept some variety it seems to have abated.

Oooooh, Taboo! I'd forgotten about that one! I bet I haven't play it in years! Another one to keep an eye out for...

I am a sucker for Sorry and Uno. Not sure what it is, I think just playing those so much as a kid at home (Sorry) and at summer day camps (Uno). Sorry is even part of our family lore- my mother was overdue to give birth to my sister, and a hearty game of Sorry had her laughing so much that she brought on labor with the guffaws and giggles.

I don't recall seeing this post. Mental math is not done like math on paper. I was shocked that so many of my GED students did not know mental math. I asked them to explain how they did it...all wrong! Maybe that is the problem with your mental math.